


Fall (Day 3 of TSEWeek2019)

by flyingfalconflower12



Series: TSE Appreciation Week 2019 [3]
Category: The Silver Eye (Webcomic)
Genre: Aliases, Aperlyne, Bullying, But probably about half lmao, F/M, Gallitan, Mild Hurt/Comfort, School, TSE Appreciation Week, TSE Appreciation Week 2019, TSEWeek2019, Well ok not ALL of them, Why do all my TSE OCs have Southern accents lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-26 15:43:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20028976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingfalconflower12/pseuds/flyingfalconflower12
Summary: Apen goes to school with Chara and Berlyne.  (Chaos ensues.)Written for Day 3 of TSE Appreciation Week 2019!





	Fall (Day 3 of TSEWeek2019)

"Well, it's the first day of fall. Are you all ready to go to school?" Joe's question startles Apen, who looks up from his breakfast suddenly.

"Yep!" says Chara, jumping from her chair. "I can't wait!"

Berlyne grumbles, gathering hers and Chara's breakfast plates from the table. She fixes a pointed glare at Apen. "Are you coming?"

Apen looks up at Joe. Joe squats down, lowering to Apen's level. "Did you go to school back home?" he asks.

Apen shakes his head. "No, sir. I was privately tutored."

Joe thinks for a moment. "Well, I don't want to leave you here... why don't you come with us? The classes are for all ages, so you can still be with Berlyne and Chara even though you're only nine."

Apen shrugs. "Okay."

Joe looks mildly surprised--probably that Apen agreed so quickly--but Apen still feels bad about everything he'd done before he met with Bhatair. Plus, Apen likes learning. He just hopes the school has a good environment.

* * *

Apen puts his head down on the table. This school, he's decided, is _not_ the best learning environment.

For one, the teachers are simply parents in the community. It was alright with Apen when his father came in to teach him something--he was an educated _king _(and he had chocolate)--but these are just farmers! Apen sighs.

Secondly, all the kids are so _disrespectful!_ When Apen was learning, he paid attention and made sure to memorize all the facts, especially the ones about lineage. He's appalled at these children and the way they think they can just shout out answers without raising their hands or saying "excuse me." And their answers are usually wrong, but the questions are so easy!

"Joshua?" asks the woman teaching, a brunette named Ruth. She's apparently Berlyne and Chara's mom, but she'd divorced Joe before Apen arrived in Gallitan.

Apen snaps back to attention. "Yes, ma'am?" A few kids snicker behind him, but he ignores them, folding his hands politely.

"What's fourteen times eight?"

He barely needs to think. "One hundred twelve, ma'am."

Ruth smiles. "Good job! Now--" she turns to Chara, who's sitting next to Apen-- "Chara, what's fourteen times nine?"

Chara pauses. "Ummm..." she scribbles something onto her paper, then resorts to counting on her fingers. "Uh... I dunno. Wait! Is it... is it..." Chara sighs in defeat. "I can't figure it out."

Apen sits up straighter, raising his hand. "It's one hundred twenty-six."

Chara beams. "Thanks, Joshua!" she exclaims, but the other kids around him all roll their eyes.

Apen ducks his head. _Did I do something wrong? Maybe I just shouldn't speak up... but Chara seemed so grateful!_

"Thank you," says Ruth. "Now, Berlyne, what's--"

"It's one-forty," says Berlyne immediately. She gives Apen a gloating look, and he turns away.

_I'll just stay quiet, I guess._

He sighs.

_This is going to be a long day._

* * *

An hour later, at noon, it's finally time for recess. Apen sits alone on a bench, reading a book and missing Melly, while watching all the other kids play in the grassy countryside, letting the red autumn leaves flutter down around them. Two brown-haired boys, looking bigger and stronger than Apen, step up in front of him.

He looks up at them, waving shyly. If he's remembering correctly--which he usually does--their names are Darby and Rocco, and they're brothers aged eleven and thirteen, a year older than Chara and Berlyne, respectively. _Maybe they want to be friends?_ "Hi." Apen gives them a little smile. "I'm Joshua."

The shorter boy--Darby--flips the book out of Apen's hand, grinning. It falls to the dirt, crunching in the fallen leaves and making dust clouds rise around Apen's feet. He looks up at the boys in surprise, and they laugh cruelly.

"What're ya gonna do about it?" asks Rocco, his hands on his hips.

"...Pick up the book?" _Is this some sort of test?_

"Wrong answer!" Rocco crows, as if reading Apen's mind. "Yer a nerd. No point in bein' smart like you. Where'd ya even come from, anyway?"

"Across the Deadlands," Apen replies, starting to get nervous.

The boys laugh loudly, and Apen decides to just lean over and pick up his book to dust it off.

_Wrong answer._

With one kick from Darby, Apen's sent flying face-first into the dust and dirt. He pushes himself up, coughing, and Rocco kneels down to get to his eye level.

"Puny," he jeers. "Yer just a no-good nobody who acts like he's a king or somethin'."

"But I _was_ a king," Apen protests, sitting up, which just causes the boys to laugh louder.

_What am I doing wrong?_ Apen starts to feel tears prick his slowly-changing eyes. _Are they all like this? I thought kids couldn't be so mean. Except for... _he shudders, squeezing his eyes shut to get the picture of the red-haired king out of his mind.

Someone kicks him again, sending him sprawling face-first again, and Apen opens his eyes, rubbing his back where he'd been kicked. "Please stop." He tries to lift himself up again.

Rocco rolls his eyes. _"Please stop," _he mocks. _"I'm a _king, _listen to _me; _I'm so much smarter than all you dumb country boys."_

Apen clenches his fists, but doesn't fight back. "I won't fight you," he says. "I'm not going to stoop to your level."

"Aw, so now ya think yer better'n us?" Rocco crosses his arms.

Apen doesn't respond, but Darby kicks him again and he can't help but to cry out in pain.

"Hey!" someone yells. He looks up in shock--it's Berlyne. "Get away from him! He's just a kid."

"What're ya gonna do about it, _girl?,"_ replies Rocco, crossing his arms.

In response, Berlyne lunges forward and socks him in the nose. Apen touches his face, remembering when Berlyne had punched him after he made their horses run away. It had _hurt._

"Ow!" yells Rocco, pointing at Berlyne with one hand and clutching his nose with the other. "She--she hit me!"

Darby aims to punch Berlyne back, but she kicks him in the shin, sending him sprawling backwards. "Hey!" he shouts, hugging his leg.

In an instant, Joe, Ruth, and another adult are at the kids' sides, pulling them away from each other. "She hit me!" Rocco yells again.

"They were bullying Joshua!" protests Berlyne. "He wasn't going to fight them; someone had to!"

"Just break it up," says Joe. "Berlyne, Darby, Rocco, if I ever see you fighting again you're doing extra homework. This is your last warning; I don't want to see any more hitting."

Berlyne crosses her arms, sulking as the two boys are led away, still shouting. Apen sits up, looking at Berlyne.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, I think so," replies Apen. "Thanks."

Berlyne only nods in response.

"Maybe it's best if I don't go to school anymore," muses Apen. "Are you going to be doing trigonometry or calculus after you finish multiplication and division?"

Berlyne blinks in confusion. "I... really don't think so."

"Oh." Apen shrugs. "Okay."

"What was your school like, back where you used to live?" asks Berlyne, sitting down next to Apen on the ground.

"Well, my dad hired a bunch of private tutors and sometimes he would teach me himself. I memorized my entire lineage four years ago, when I was five, and he gave me a ton of chocolate after that. Then I memorized the entire lineage of the neighboring country's king, Bhatair, and then I memorized the entire lineage of--"

"--Wow. How interesting and practical," replies Berlyne sarcastically.

"But it is!" Apen protests.

Berlyne rolls her eyes. "Sure. Okay."

They keep talking until recess is over, and when they get back to class they're both smiling and Apen decides that maybe school can be a _little _bit fun.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! Don't forget to leave comments and kudos, and, of course, don't forget to celebrate TSE Appreciation Week! :D


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